Someday, years from now, when Maxime Cressy looks back and fondly remembers his first big ATP Challenger titles in singles and doubles, he will recall a month-long run at the start of 2019 and the Ohio cities where he won them.
While still a senior at UCLA in 2019, Cressy, a native of France, teamed with Portugal’s Bernardo Saraiva to capture the $50,000 ATP Columbus Challenger doubles title. The following week, he came through qualifying in singles to win the $100,000 ATP Cleveland Challenger. With the wins, Cressy would see his world ranking skyrocket, and he would earn 90 valuable ATP points and an oversized check for slightly more than $10,000, though still an amateur.
A relatively unknown college player before 2019 began, Cressy instantly became the “Big Man on Campus” upon his return to Westwood, Calif., and his confidence soared as he held down the No. 1 spot for one of the nation’s top teams. His collegiate career culminated by winning the NCAA doubles title with Keegan Smith.
Cressy’s mother Leslie—a self-described “momager”—played college volleyball at the University of Southern California. It was her idea for her son to attend a tennis academy in the United States during his senior year of high school to attract the attention of a top NCAA Division I school.
The 23-year-old Cressy has won four singles and 13 doubles titles on the ATP Challenger and ITF Futures circuit. He currently sits at a career-high ranking of No. 164 in singles and No. 222 in doubles, and he has been awarded a wild card to compete in the US Open men’s singles draw.
USOpen.org recently caught up with Cressy to discuss how integral that last year of academy life was to his tennis career, his immediate struggles on the ATP Tour after college and his wild-card invitation to compete in this year’s US Open.
Q: Since hearing about your US Open singles wild card, how have you trained and prepared yourself for the upcoming Grand Slam?
Maxime Cressy: I live and train full-time with my coach, David Moreau, an hour-and-a-half train ride from Paris, but for three weeks before we left for New York, I was training in Paris. We set up some sparring sessions with some really good players and have been training on the new US Open surface (Laykold) and with the US Open balls (Wilson).
Q: You’ve been a professional now for more than a year. Do you plan to sign with an agent or manager in the future?
MC: I’m not sure. Right now it’s just my mom serving as my manager, and I have my coach and trainer. So we are a small team. We had everything we needed in terms of facilities to prepare for the Open.
Q: You hadn’t even completed a full 12 months on tour when the pandemic shutdown happened in March. How did the time off affect you?
MC: It’s been a little frustrating for the whole tennis world, just not knowing when things would get started. Not only for tennis, but for all sports. But in my position, I have just been focusing on what I could control, and if I have to wait three months, four months, five months, a year, for the ATP Tour to resume, then so be it. I just focused on my training and what I could do to improve a little bit every day.
Q: How hard has it been to stay dedicated and focused?
MC: I’ve been really successful at improving all areas of my game, and off the court, as well. It’s been a real productive time for me and actually has given me a lot of clarity and structure in my life. Definitely, it’s been very beneficial.
Q: Was there anything specific you learned about yourself during the time off?
MC: One of the positives was that my coach was able to really get to know me, and all of my flaws and weaknesses. Now when we work on the court, he has a better idea of my state of mind and how to make me improve even more. That’s been super beneficial for me.
Q: You left the French Federation while in high school. Were you not heavily recruited by American universities as a junior?
MC: I was definitely at a really low and frustrating time in my tennis life after I got kicked out of the French Federation. I went to look for a new and fresh start. One of the ideas my mom came up with was to go to an academy for my senior year before going off to college. I chose between two academies in Southern California: Advantage in Irvine and Weil in Ojai. I just went for my gut feeling and chose the Weil Academy.
As soon as I arrived at Weil’s, I just felt an incredible energy, and my tennis started to improve a lot every day with coach Mo Mohamed (Badran) on the court. And also Patrick (Muller) on the fitness side. I think the biggest thing was I felt supported and loved and really felt that they believed in me and I was part of a family. That really lifted my spirit. I attracted a lot of good things into my life by going to Weil. It wouldn’t have been possible to get an offer to play at UCLA without the Weil Academy.
Q: The Pac-12 Championships are held in Ojai, so staying close and playing for UCLA must have made perfect sense. What did you thinkabout Bruins’ Head Coach Billy Martin the first time you met him?
MC: Billy was really, really kind and nice to me. I instantly felt he knew I could be a big asset for UCLA. I instantly connected with him, as well.
Q: How did your game improve while you were at UCLA?
MC: The biggest thing at UCLA was that Billy really put in the work on the court with me on the technical and tactics side. I struggled a little bit my freshman year and was really only playing doubles. I just kept focusing on what I could control. UCLA was an incredible place for me to improve as a player and a man. I had four fabulous years there. And my improvement curve was incredible while I was in college, and I attribute that to how happy I was with being there.
Q: What do you remember most about winning the NCAA doubles titles with Keegan Smith?
MC: Just finishing my college career on a high like that was so special. It was just a consequence in the belief that they had in me, and I had in myself. Having my family there celebrating was amazing. I finished it on a very high note.
Q: You have said you struggled right after college on the court. What was the toughest transition for you from college to the pro tour?
MC: The first few months were really a grind. I was mostly on my own and traveling week after week and a lot of uncertainties, whether or not I was going to make it or succeed. The first few months were the toughest months of my life. No fans, no professional environment around me. But it really made me resilient to keep moving forward and believing that I could have a chance on the tour. And that belief really got me through those months, and my rankings started to rise really fast because of that resiliency. I’m never going to forget those tough times.
Q: You beat a former NCAA singles champion and fellow Bruin Marcos Giron in the semifinals at the Cleveland Challenger. How big a win was that for your confidence?
MC: When I beat Marcos, that is when it clicked and that I knew I could make it. That tournament in Cleveland just really changed my mindset and my spirit. It allowed me to feel my future was not going to be in doubt and that I was going to be successful on the tour. The Cleveland tournament was a massive turnaround for my career.
Q: What is your ultimate goal in tennis?
MC: Well, last year I set the goal to be the best tennis player in the world. So five years from now, I believe I will be that. In the next year, I would like to be in the Top 70, and in two years, I think Top 30. In three or four years, my goal is Top 10, and then five years from now, be No. 1 in the world. The timing doesn’t matter. As long as I keep improving and I control what I can control and I continue being happy on the court, this is the most important thing. But I do have that vision to be the best in the world.
Q: What is your favorite thing about being a professional tennis player?
MC: Being able to play the sport I love and being able to travel the world doing it and exploring so many different places. I think that’s the most important thing—to do something you are passionate about and, at the same time, be able to travel the world. There are a lot of things that drive my happiness when I’m on the tour.
Q: In last year’s US Open qualifying, you lost in the first round to Nicolas Mahut. What does getting a wild card into the US Open mean to you?
MC: I was trying not to think about it too much and just stay focused on my game. As soon as I got a call from Kent Kinnear [USTA Head of Men’s Tennis], I realized this was a dream come true and something I had visualized since I was a little kid. Realizing that I am going to be a part of this and being among the top players in the world and competing against them is a feeling I’ve never ever experienced in my life. It’s just a very, very special feeling.
Q: You mentioned not playing in front of any fans on the Futures circuit right out of college. That’s going to be the case in New York. Have you thought about that at all?
MC: I think it helps my case a little bit with the nerves with no fans. Of course, eventually I will have to experience that, but I think this year it’s going to be easier to play my best tennis under those circumstances, so I’m not entirely upset or frustrated by it at all. I’m incredibly excited to be able to compete there, and I think I can make some big things happen if I stay focused on the small details.
